They also feature the new JibJab animation about Obama. To my eyes, it is funny but it sure looks a LOT like some animation I have loved and watched over and over, the astonishing Stevie and Zoya adventures by Ace Conrad. Maybe Ace works for JibJab now? What do I know. But it looks to me like they should tip their enormously influential Hat to Mr Conrad in the microsecond before they launch into their infomercial selling e-cards.

Sunday, June 07, 2009

Wednesday, June 03, 2009

Sorry I'm Late! great stop-motion from Tomas Mankovsky - thanks to Boing Gboing for finding it first... I especially love the "making of" trial runs. Next snow day with the kids, I know what we're doing.

More cleverness here. Warning: robot movie comes with an EASTERN-EUROPEAN-STYLE SAD ENDING. Don't share with small children unless they are nihilists already.

Afanasy Nikitin

Afanasy Nikitin was the first Russian to explore India, which he wound up doing in about 1466.

In history books you will find very little about his dealings with the Shuisky sisters, or Alnus Rugosa, or Das Brick, because I made them up.

Ali Qushji and Perkin Warbeck and Jami the Persian Poet were real people, who sadly never really had anything to do with Russia or Afanasy Nikitin. The Kreml, while a real place, was probably not as fun as it appears herein.

So abandon all pretence of learning about historical Russia, ye who enter here.